Royal London One Day Cup Round-Up 3

Wednesday, 6 June 2018 11:18:18 Europe/London

They say form is temporary but class is permanent, and nobody embodied that more this week than former England star and Warwickshire stalwart Jonathan Trott who notched up back-to-back centuries against Durham and Leicestershire.

The first game saw Durham bat first and rack up 299/8 from their 50 overs, featuring a fantastic 111 including 12 boundaries from Michael Richardson, just his second century in List A cricket and his highest ever score in the format.

Trott opened the batting for The Bears, and despite losing his opening partner in the second over and his number three partner shortly after, began to stabilise the innings with Ian Bell reaching his 50 from 68 balls and soon after brought up the 100-partnership with his England teammate.

Trott knocked the ball around to keep the scoreboard ticking over, hitting boundaries consistently to ensure his side were always ahead of the run rate. He brought up his 22nd List A hundred up with a single down the ground, only to be dismissed without adding to his tally, falling to a catch from Richardson.

Despite losing his wicket, his efforts with the bat made sure that Warwickshire didn’t lose the game and even with his side giving away a couple of late wickets, the result was never in doubt as they strolled home with 5 wickets and 7 balls remaining.

Trott’s next match once again saw his side needing to chase, this time against a more modest total of 207 in their match against Leicestershire.

Having won the toss, Leicestershire made poor use of an excellent batting track and despite being 135/3 half way through the innings, collapsed to 207 all out in just the 44thover.

In reply, Trott was completely untroubled throughout, putting on 52 for the first wicket before he lost his opening partner. It would be the only wicket to fall as Trott trotted his way to 102* from 121 balls, reaching his 23rd List A hundred.

Asked to bat first, Slater along with his opening partner put on 182 for the first wicket, before Slater was bowled for a well-compiled 94 from 117 balls and Derbyshire made 265/2 from their 50 overs.For Derbyshire, Ben Slater continued his fantastic one day form against Northants, following on from his 109* against Yorkshire in the previous round.

The Northants chase was in early trouble when Wayne Madsen picked up a wicket to leave the home side 5/1 before Ben Duckett replied with his first 50 of the season, eventually making 57 from 74 balls before he too fell with the score 118/4. Derbyshire’s overseas bowler Duanne Olivier raced through the lower middle order, picking up 3/31 from 7 overs as they dismissed Northants for 214, 51 runs short of their target.

In Derby’s next match, they faced a Lancashire side hoping to re-boot their one-day campaign. Winning the toss and electing to field first, Derby’s bowlers put plenty of pressure on Lancashire’s opening batsmen, restricting the typically fluent Alex Davies to making just 39 from 58 balls. Dane Vilas attempted to accelerate the scoring before falling for 32 from 27 balls, opening the door for all-rounder Jordan Clark to enter the fray to make his first 50 of the One-Day campaign before falling to Olivier, helping Lancashire reach 290/8 from their 50 overs. Olivier finished figures of 2/36 from 9 overs whilst Hardus Viljoen picked up 2/55 from his 10 overs.

Derbyshire’s opening batsmen were unable to recreate the partnership they put on against Northants, but they did still make three figures before Ben Slater fell for 46. However, a middle order collapse saw them fall from 100/1 to 170/6 and appeared to be heading for a bit of a thrashing before Viljoen decided to take matters into his own hands, whacking two boundaries and four 6’s on his way to 50*, ably supported by Olivier who also finished not out on 23. Unfortunately, the damage had already been done and Derby finished 25 runs short of their target.

In a high-scoring affair, Gloucester travelled to high-flyers Kent hoping to give themselves a chance of qualifying for the knockout stage. Having chosen to bat first, Gloucester got off to a terrific start with their opening batsmen putting on 132 for the first wicket before a slight wobble allowed Ian Cockbain plenty of time to make his first 50 of the year in an innings that included five boundaries and three 6’s before he was run out for 68. Gloucester made an imposing 322/8 from their allotted overs.

Daniel Bell-Drummond helped his side get off the starting blocks very quickly, making 40 from 35 balls, 32 of which came in boundaries, before he fell with the score on 66/1. His teammates picked up where he left off as they raced along, losing only two more wickets and winning with 3.3 overs to spare.

Elsewhere, Hampshire travelled to Swansea to face a struggling Glamorgan side as James Vince & co looked to assert themselves at the top of the South Group table. Glamorgan were asked to bat first and continuously lost wickets after making starts, eventually spluttering to 227 all out, with Brad Taylor picking up 2/51 from his 10 overs.

Hampshire’s innings didn’t get off the start they were looking for as Vince was forced to come to the crease in the third over. Vince made his intentions clear from the off, frequently advancing down the track to Glamorgan’s spinners, making a fluent 41 from 38 balls before he fell with the score 88/3. Hampshire lost another wicket quickly which brought Taylor to the crease. The 21-year-old made his third List A 50, his second of the year, to top score in the innings with an unbeaten 54 to win the game with over 6 overs to spare.

Surrey’s victory against Middlesex has kept their hopes of qualification alive after chasing down a modest total of 234, which featured Will Jacks’ first professional wicket.

The Surrey innings didn’t get off to the best of starts, with Jacks departing for 18 before Rory Burns took over to make a cautious 40 from 56 balls. Burns fell with the score 133/4, at which point Ollie Pope came to the crease and ensured Surrey got over the line as he made 57*, with 1.5 overs to spare.

Essex travelled to Eastbourne for their match against Sussex, but not even their bowling all-rounder Ollie Robinson could suppress Essex’s free-flowing run-scoring. Sussex made 281/7 from their overs, but a fine 88 from Tom Westley reminded everyone of his England credentials, before he was run out. The damage was already done, however, as his side chased the target down with 2 overs to spare.